


The Break-Out

by Aryashi



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate, Homestuck
Genre: Betas may make a cameo, Crossover, Fusion, Gen, Lots of Karkat, Mistrust, Original Flavor, Other trolls come in later, Paranoia, Trolls as Andalites, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-29
Updated: 2013-06-09
Packaged: 2017-12-09 23:11:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/779044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aryashi/pseuds/Aryashi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marco knew that the Andalite forces were coming. He knew that like he knew that he could morph, and that everything would eventually work out in the end with everyone safe and alive. It was something he told himself at night, a comfort. So the last thing he expects is for an Andalite to be running around on Earth, and this Andalite would be like nothing he'd ever thought of before...</p>
<p>(Takes place after #12: The Reaction and before #13:The Change)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

My name is Marco. If you’ve been reading everything I’ve written up until now you know exactly what’s going on and exactly why I can’t tell you anything about me. But for those lucky few that don’t know, the fortunate jerks that still get to sleep at night, I’ll give the short version.

We are being invaded. As you read this aliens are working to bring the earth to total destruction. But they aren’t doing it War of the Worlds style, or Independence Day. No, it’s more Invasion of the Body Snatchers, subtle infiltration into your lives through the people you trust. Teachers, policemen, pastors, parents, siblings, you name it. All these aliens (called Yeerks) have to do it crawl inside your ear and dig until they hit brain. Then they wrap themselves around your mind and take direct control. You don’t move, you don’t speak, you don’t even blink your eyes. The Yeerk does all of that. It reads your memories like they were an open book and mimics you so perfectly no one can tell it’s not you anymore.

All you can do is scream inside your own head and watch as the Yeerk works to put slugs into the skulls of every person you know.

They do have weaknesses though. They have enemies. And we use those to their full extent. Five human kids and one alien kid, given the ability to turn into any animal they can touch for two hours at a time, exploiting everything we can to stall the invasion until the cavalry arrives, however long that takes.

Speaking of, one of the Yeerks weaknesses is that they need to feed every 3 days. Since Yeerks are slugs they can’t get nutrients through eating, so they exit the hosts head and swim around in this stuff full of kandrona rays, which don’t actually exist on earth. They need to generate them, and they have a big central location called a Yeerk pool for all the Controllers in the area to go every time their Yeerk needs a refill. It’s huge and it’s more like hell on earth than anything I’ve ever seen.

They’ve got entrances to it all over, for convenience I guess. No matter where you are, never too far away from a place to duck in and get some food. Plus the Yeerk pool stretches under half the city, so no sense in making all of the Controllers bunch together at one place. That’d attract attention eventually.

Here’s the kicker: entrances always double as exits, and sometimes having a lot of holes in your base that also works as a prison for desperate crazy people isn’t such a bright idea.

But that’s kind of jumping ahead, let me back up and explain. See, it was a Saturday morning, early, at a time anyone my age should have been dead to the world. It was the time of morning that really shouldn’t be called morning at all, because morning implies that the sun is up and the birds are singing sweet songs about how awesome the sun is.

This morning was a before dawn morning, a technical morning, a morning that is actually night to anyone on the average human sleep schedule. So as you can imagine I was not exactly jumping out of bed to answer the phone.

RIIIIING

“Uuuuuug…” I said to the universe, making absolutely sure it knew how much I did not enjoy this. But like a good little Animorph I got to the hallway phone by the third ring, before Dad had even woken up.

“Hello…?” I said, rubbing my eyes. “Its 4 am, no one should be up at 4 am on a Saturday. I swear there’s a law against it…”

“Hi Marco.” It was Cassie. Sweet animal loving Cassie, kind of the moral compass of the group. Funnily enough she also gave us access to our most deadly dangerous morphs.

 “Tobias needs to sleep at the barn tonight. Can you bring a duffle bag over?”

Suddenly I wasn’t so dazed anymore. Suddenly I was as awake as I had ever been. You see, part of being an Animorph is being more paranoid than anyone else. Paranoia keeps you alive, keeps you on your toes. It wasn’t _probable_ that the Yeerks had our phones tapped, but it was possible. And since it was possible we had to make sure nothing related to Animorphs business was ever said on the phone without being in some kind of code. We’d worked out some key phrases over the months, telling us where to go and urgent it was and such. It was a kind of weird combination of cool and completely ridiculous discussion, like we were spies or agents on a secret mission to save the world.

Oh wait. We are. How about that.

But the reason I was so awake right then was because the phrase “Tobias needs to sleep at the barn” had been used. No build up, straight to the point. Tobias was a hawk, a kid trapped in morph because he stayed in it more than two hours, too long. He could sleep in a tree just fine and he certainly didn’t need anything of mine. But that wasn’t really what Cassie was saying.

Translated, she said “It’s an emergency, get down here as fast as you can.”

“Sure, I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”

“Thanks. He’ll really appreciate it.” Cassie sounded vaguely worried, even while trying to act thankful and relieved. Whatever this was it was big.

“Bye.” I hung up. Suddenly everything was in sharp laser focus. Biking would take too long, I had to fly there. I wrote a quick note for my Dad and stuck it on the phone ‘Went out with friends, be back late’. Hopefully he’d wake up at something like 10, when going out was actually something I would do. I spun on my heel and went back into my room, already half out of my boxers. The undershirt was tight enough to work; I just needed the bike shorts I kept on the back of my bed at all times. Morphing doesn’t really work with clothes unless you’re really freaking good at it or they’re skin tight.

Once I’d gotten into my morphing outfit I concentrated on my osprey, a raptor that could get where I needed to go fast. It was dark, but the city lights meant I would be able to see enough to get to the barn. As I concentrated I could feel my insides shifting around, moving into a shape completely different than my human one.

Morphing is not pretty. Actually that’s kind of an understatement, it’s usually Grade A bad dream fuel. You don’t get an easy transition from one morph to another without being, again, _really_ good at it. The rest of us have to deal with organs squashing and bones stretching and skin melting, and it’s different every time. That way you could get a new experience to add to the catalogue of things your brain skims through when looking for scream out loud nightmares.    

This one was pretty bad; not the worst, but being in a hurry meant things got a little disorganized. For instance, the first thing that changed about me was my arms. My elbows bent and suddenly my fore arm was extending like silly putty, and my hand twisted into the wrong angle while my fingers extended. Except my skin wasn’t extending with them , so I got a good look at bone jutting out of my warping hands, held together with growing ligaments and rapidly shifting muscles.

I let myself gag a little as a relief, but kept focus. I was shrinking now, compacting and hollowing out into a lighter and more streamlined shape. My face bulged out, a hardening piece of finger nail until it was a small but wickedly sharp beak. My bare feet got thinner, my toes merging together into talons. Feather patterns etched on my skin and then sprang to life, coating me all over with specially designed controls for flight.

About two minutes later there was an osprey flapping its wings where I’d been standing. I got my balance and hopped up to the windowsill, always open for occasions just like this one. I gave myself a second to make sure I had the support of the hawk instincts and the leaped out of my second story window into the slightly chill night air.

The hawk took over, flapping its wings and getting some altitude. It didn’t really want to be out this time of night, preferring to fly during the day, but I had to be somewhere and didn’t let it bother me. There weren’t a lot of thermals and I was going to tire out quickly but I had to get to Cassie’s barn ASAP.

Despite all of that I kind of enjoyed the flight. Flying is always amazing and seeing the world from above never gets any less awesome. I think our ability to fly is kind of the universe going, ‘Look, I know I handed you Animorphs a bum deal, so here you go. Hope it helps a little with the pain and constant terror’.  And sometimes it did. It helped… well not clear my head. A clear head was usually my problem. Helped fill it with nice things.

But the trip was short, and Cassie’s barn came into view just under the ten minutes I’d promised. I pulled in my wings and did a kind of glide/dive combo, landing on the barn floor with a one-two flap and a graceful drop onto the hay.

<OH! And a perfect landing from the daring and if I may say so handsome osprey specimen! Let’s take a look at our judges.>

‘Our judges’ consisted of Jake trying to look serious but wearing a small smile, Cassie giggling a little, Ax (our resident Andalite) looking confused, and Tobias in the rafters shaking his head.

Good. Whatever it was wasn’t bad enough for jokes to be in bad taste. I started demorphing, slowing uncurling and standing up in my morphing gear. Everyone else was wearing theirs to, Cassie included. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that.

“So what’s going on?” I asked, scanning the room. “Much as I love being up before the sun, a guy needs his beauty sleep.”

“Tobias saw something and he says he’s waiting until all of us are here to tell.”

<It can wait the 20 minutes and I only want to explain it once.>

“Um, correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe I heard the code phrase for ‘it’s an emergency, get your butt to the barn now’ when Cassie called me.”

<You did.> Hawks don’t smile, but I will swear on everything Tobias was smirking at me. <It can’t wait too long, just that much. Trust me>

“Calm down Marco, Rachel will be here any second.” Jake said with a bit of leader-ly authority. Jake was leader because he was just that person you looked to in a crisis. Me and him have been friends since practically forever and I’d trust him with everything. Not that I’d let Jake know that though. He needs someone to bounce off of sometimes. Friendly ribbing and nitpicking happen to be specialties of mine.

<I do not understand the concept of ‘beauty sleep’. Is it a special kind of rest for the sake of physical appearance?> Ax asked, shifting around a little. His stalk eyes constantly scanned everything, continuous 360 vision while his main eyes focused on Cassis. I was kind of weird talking to an Andalite, but you got used to it.

“Sort of. Humans look better when they get more rest, so beauty sleep kind of came from that.” Cassie said ever the helpful honest one.  She was sorting things on the shelves, animal meds and feed, but she seemed more focused on the conversation and was just doing stuff with her hands.

“Okay, Jake and me I get, we had to get here fast, but why are you in morphing gear?” I asked, indicating her pink one piece. “Do you just sleep in it or…?”

Cassie looked a little sheepish but said “I was out running… in horse morph. I like to get up early on Saturday mornings.” She smiled and blushed a little.

“Jake, cuff her. She clearly broke the rules! No morphing for personal gain remember? Any refusal to act on your part will be taken as a sign of blatant favoritism and a clear indicator that you two need to just make out already.”

Jake scoffed but he was smiling more earnestly now, and if I squinted I could see some pink in his face that wasn’t there before. Cassie was laughing to. Ax was still a little behind but he was doing that Andalite thing where he was smiling with his eyes and Tobias was kind of thought-speech chuckling.

Mission accomplished. Go Marco.

“It’s fine Marco. A morning run an hour before her parents wake up isn’t hurting anyone.”

“Sure, sure. Whatever you say, Fearless Leader.”

<Prince Jake, I believe I hear Rachel coming.>

“Don’t call me Prince,” Jake said automatically.

<Yes Prince Jake.>

That’s right when Rachel swooped in, a bald eagle speeding into the barn at almost top speed. She managed to avoid crashing into the back wall, but it was close.

“Oooh… a sloppy entrance by the Bald Eagle. That’s going to cost her some points.”

<Shut up Marco. What’s going on?> Rachel said, already demorphing. She was wearing a dull purple leotard, the same thing she wore for gymnastics.

“Tobias saw something but he wanted to wait until everyone was here before he told us what it was,” Cassie said. She wasn’t messing around with the pill bottle anymore, now she was completely focused on the red tail hawk sitting in the rafters. “And now they are. Can you tell us why you called us all here now?”

<I sure can. You see, I was just catching some shut eye after a long day of hunting, all important hawk sleep schedule. That is, until about a half hour ago.> Tobias paused for a second like he was building the suspense. I was annoyed.

<Something ran through my clearing at top speed and startled me awake. It got away before I could get a really good look at it, but I decided I needed to let you all know about it as soon as possible>

“You’re telling me you dragged all of us out bed at 4 am on a Saturday because a deer or something ran through your clearing?” I said while my face pulled into a scowl. “Seriously dude? If you were lonely or whatever there are much more effective ways of getting attention-“

<It was bright blue.>

And suddenly a switch had been flipped and everything became dead quiet. My complaints died in my throat and stuck there like road kill on hot pavement.

<Bright blue and ran on hooves. It was an Andalite, and it certainly wasn’t Ax. It was too small.>

Silence. Utter and complete silence on all sides. Ax was staring at Tobias with all four of his eyes.

<There’s another Andalite on earth, and I think it was on the run.>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is inspired by the art and concepts from saeto15 , you can find her work right here --> http://saeto15.tumblr.com/tagged/art
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy this, I have a feeling I will. :)


	2. Chapter 2

The phrase ‘You could hear a pin drop’ gets tossed around whenever someone wants to say it was really, really quiet. You could not hear a pin drop in the barn right then, the animals were making noises and the pin would have hit the hay covering the floor anyway. But the idea, the silence so complete noise didn’t belong in it was there. Everyone was shocked, and for a second nobody was even willing to breathe.

 I moved first, back into cold clear tactician mode, saying what no one really wanted to process.

“This could be a trap. Ax, you would have heard something if the Andalites were here, right?”

<… I don’t know. My communications with my people have been cut off. I would learn they had arrived when you did.>

“Okay. We can’t rush in just because there might be another Andalite. We need to be smart about this.”

“Marco, even if this is a trap, we can’t leave it alone.” Jake said with a sharp expression.

“I never said that. I just wanted to make sure we all knew that an Andalite we’ve never seen before running around in our neck of the literal woods is pretty suspicious.”

“Not everything is a trap Marco. Sometime you just have to go for it.” Rachel said, standing tall. That was Xena, Warrior Princess for you. Always ready to leap into danger, no matter what.

“Besides, if it isn’t we need to get in touch with the guy before he runs into other people and gets himself in trouble,” Cassie said looking worried.

Tobias suddenly added <When I saw him I didn’t stick around long enough to see if he was being chased. I figured getting you guys was more important.>

<So he could be running from Hork Bajir Controllers even as we stand here and speak? What are we waiting for?> Ax said suddenly, eyestalks moving all over and tail shaking.

“We can’t rush into this Ax. I know you want to see more Andalites, but don’t you think Visser 3 knows that to? We need to get a better idea of what’s going on.”  

“Marco’s right.” Jake said, moving from his place leaning against the barn wall into the center of the room. “Let’s go slow first. Tobias, get into the air and find him again. The rest of us will head to your territory and morph wolf to see if we can get a scent read on this.”

<Prince Jake, I believe I would be more suited to helping Tobias in the->

“No. I need you with us. Tobias is going to be keeping his distance, eyes only. Unless you can swear to me that you will not try and talk to this Andalite without my say so, you’re on the ground.”

Ax stood and stared at Jake for a good minute, but eventually lowered his tail blade and eyes. He couldn’t do it.

“Okay, any other suggestions?” Jake scanned the room and got no response. “Lets go.”

Everyone started morphing bird, Cassie and me ospreys, Jake a peregrine falcon, Rachel a bald eagle, and Ax a Northern Harrier. Tobias opened his wings and flew out first, and then slowly we followed, one by one with plenty of space in between. Even though the sun was only starting to peak over the horizon we needed to be careful.

We always needed to be careful. Careful keeps you alive.

The flight to the little clearing was short but tense. It would have been about a 40 minute walk but we didn’t have a time to waste. Tobias was leading because he could get there the quickest, might even be able to fly there blindfolded. It was his home now, it was where he hunted. 

I didn’t like thinking about that too much. Tobias might be cool with his life now, but that didn’t mean I was.

We got there in 5 minutes. Tobias circled once while we all landed, then flew off in what I assumed was the direction he’d seen the mysterious blue hooved thing that was probably an Andalite run off in. The rest of us demorphed, and I for one needed to take a minute to catch my breath. Morphing a lot all at once is exhausting, and I’d just morphed four times in less than an hour.

“What’s the matter Marco, tired out already?” Rachel teased, just finishing up her demorph. She still had some feather patterns on her skin, weird tattoos, but they were fading fast.   

“Forgive me Xena, for I am just a humble farm boy in your mighty presence.” I said, sitting with my arms holding me up at my back and staring at the dawn colored sky. “I have only a fraction of your mighty strength.”

“Oh shut up, both of you. We’ve got work to do.” Jake said like an exasperated Dad. He was already shifting into wolf form, fur growing out of his skin and feet changing into paws.

“Fine,” I said a little petulantly, but I didn’t mind too much. Jake was the leader, I was the comic relief-slash-strategist. It was my job to lighten the mood when called for and make our plans as water tight as possible the rest of the time. We all had out roles in this little group of crazy resistance

Morphing wolf is very different from morphing a bird. For one thing, I didn’t shrink. A lot of me shifted around into new places and my knees started bending the wrong way, but I stayed about the same size overall, maybe put on a few extra pounds. Fur grew, my snout sprouted out of my face, and I feel onto all fours while my spine extended into a short tail. My senses got sharper and felt the wolf mind emerge under my own.

Shaking in the classic dog drying off style I got a good look at the rest of the group.  Besides me there were three other wolves and an Andalite.

<Ax-man, you seriously need to pick up a wolf morph at some point.>

<I will whenever the opportunity presents itself Marco.>

<I mean, four wolves and an alien are going to attract attention.>

<Yet another reason I could be more useful in the air with->

<No Ax, you’re sticking with us. Okay? >

<… Yes Prince Jake.>

<Don’t call me Prince.>

<Yes Prince Jake.>

Ax claimed to not understand sarcasm and more often than not I believed him, but it was times like these I swore he did the Prince thing just to get on Jakes nerves. 

I sniffed around the clearing, getting a feel for it. Lots of grass in varying health, all kinds of tiny animals, old blood from past kills, random deer, and a weird smell my wolf brain couldn’t identify. I sniffed in deeper, and then I noticed the weird smell wasn’t just one scent. It was an old scent that had been to the clearing a bunch of times with another, brand new smell just over top.

<You all getting this?> I asked.

<The weird smells you mean? Yeah, I got them. Rachel?>

<Me to. Think that’s it?>

<Only one way to find out> I sauntered over to Ax and started sniffing all over him.

<Marco, what are you->

<Yep, that’s you all right. You come here often?> I asked, looking at him and tilting my head.

Ax actually looked kind of embarrassed, but he said <I visit Tobias occasionally. You can smell that?>

<Sure can. You smell like confused wolf brain. And so does the new guy.>

<So it was an Andalite?> Ax straightened up, three eyes on me.

<So far as I can smell.>

<Come on, we’ve got a trail, lets follow it!> Rachel’s tongue was lolling out of her mouth and tail wagging. Wolves are less emotional than dogs, but when they get happy they get pretty dang happy.

<No sense in waiting around,> Jake replied, nose to the ground. He picked up the trail and started moving in the same general direction Tobias had. The rest of us followed like a good pack, Ax last but keeping pace with the rest of us easily enough.

The great thing about wolves is that they really don’t need to stop for anything. Once you get a good walk going a wolf body can move at a steady pace for hours and hours over basically anything you can think of. Hills, rocks, tree roots, you name it we could get over it. After about an hour of walking, when the trail was starting to get really fresh Tobias contacted us.

<I’ve got him. It’s definitely an Andalite and unless Ax can be in two places at once I’m pretty sure it isn’t him>

<What’s around him? Any Yeerk forces?>

<A group of Hork-Bajir, twelve by my count in the woods after him. You guys are about a half mile away from them and a mile away from the Andalite>

<Only twelve? Surely they’d send more troops than that. An Andalite body would be too valuable to let escape>

<Anyone else starting to see the merit of my trap theory yet?>

<Much as I hate to admit it Marco has a point, there’s no way the Yeerks would let a prize like that get away,> Rachel sounded like she was disappointed. <The poor jerk is probably already a Controller.>

<Impossible!> Ax said harshly. <The only Andalite Controller is Visser 3.> Ax stamped his hoof. It didn’t make a whole lot of noise in the undergrowth but the point was still made.

<But if it is a trap, it’s a pretty bad one,> Cassie said in that slow pondering way of hers. <What’s to stop us from swooping down, capturing the bait and tying him up until we know for sure he’s free? Then they’ve given us another ally and lost a rare host in the process>

<Are you sure there are only the Hork-Bajir?> Jake asked looking up into the sky.

<Positive. Wait, there’s a human with them I didn’t see before. Some kind of park ranger escort. He looks armed.>

<Twelve Hork-Bajir and one armed human going after an Andalite. That doesn’t add up,> I said. <It doesn’t even make sense as a trap. What’s their game here?>

<I don’t know, but I have a feeling our only option is to try and take the bait anyway. Like Cassie said, even if he is a Controller, we just have to hold him until three days go by> Jake thought for a second, and then started giving out orders.

<Tobias, keep an eye on him. If anything changes, let us know. Marco, Cassie, and Rachel, you go and cut him off while me and Ax go distract the Hork-Bajir>

Ax did not look pleased with this order at all, not one little bit, but he didn’t say anything.  Jake stared at the alien like he was waiting for an objection, but one never came.

<Okay, everyone know what they’re doing?>

<Of course Dear Leader> I said with a stupid wolf grin. Jake made a half-hearted snap at me and then said <Then move out>

Three wolves went off in one direction while a wolf and an alien went in another. I’m not exactly sure how Jake and Ax distracted the search party, but I think I could make an educated guess. Jake probably got the group looking in one direction while Ax got in position and sprinted past them in the opposite direction the other guy was going, just far enough away that he was clearly Andalite but not close enough they could spot any difference. After being lead on a merry chase the entirely wrong way Ax would get far enough ahead to morph bird and leave his pursuers behind entirely. Thus misdirected the Yeerks would continue to scan the area for an Andalite escapee they were now miles away from.

Not that any of that really mattered in the long run… but that’s kind of getting ahead of myself again.

Cassie, Rachel, and I went after the trail, encountering the strong and recent Hork Bajir scents as we got closer to our target. Eventually we got to where Jake and Ax had led them off track, the Andalite smell splitting off in a different direction from the rest.  The forest was quiet in the wake of the stock troops. It makes sense, Hork Bajir are kind of like upright lawnmowers from hell, blades all over the place. With a Yeerk in their head they’re deadly enemies.

Even without their smell the presence of Hork-Bajir was obvious. They’d cut their way through the woods leaving a nice wide path of destruction in their wake. Branches, bushes, vines, all torn down. It was silent where’d they been, everything with a brain fleeing at the first sound of Hork-Bajir approaching. Getting back into the untouched woods was a relief after that. The sun was over the horizon now and sun was starting to stream through leaves. Birds started singing again and the air was perfect on my fur.

<It’s times like these I think the utter pants wetting terror is almost worth it.>

<Me to, Marco.> Cassie said, a lot less ironically.

We walked in silence for a bit after that, catching up fast. The Andalite had been slowing down for a while, and my wolf brain could smell its exhaustion.

<You guys are almost on him, be careful. Jake said not to show your cards too early.>

We speed up, but not too much, and eventually we got him in sight.  It was an Andalite alright, but not like any one I’d seen before now. For one thing, he was smaller. A lot smaller. His eye stalks would barely make it to Ax’s shoulders, and he didn’t seem as long either. He had these weird stripes on him, darker blue on top of the Andalite standard we’d seen before and it made him look kind of like a zebra. But the weirdest thing about him was his tail. He didn’t really have a blade, just a sort of sharp nub where a wicked sharp blade should have been. He was still moving, but he was clearly about tired and seemed to be moving on a combination of adrenaline and an absolute refusal to stop.

Put together, the whole thing made him seem… young. Really young.  

<Crap.> I said, using thought speak to specifically aim at everyone but the Andalite in front of me. <It looks like a kid.>

<What do you mean, Marco?> Ax asked. Apparently he was in range.

<He’s got these stripes and he’s tiny… and his tail blade hasn’t grown in?>

<What color is he?> Ax asked, sounding urgent.

<He’s blue, kind of like you, except he’s got stripes>

<That… is a relief. If he was brown he would be the Andalite equivalent of a human toddler.> 

The idea of the Yeerks using a toddle as bait made me extremely sick inside, so I moved passed it as quickly as possible.

<What do we do now Jake? We’ve got him all to ourselves> Rachel said, eyes focused on the Andalite.

<For about an hour. The Hork Bajir group is fanning out. I wouldn’t stick around here for long.> Tobias interjected.

 There was a pause while we all waited for an answer from our fearless leader. We moved the entire time, keeping pace with the thing our wolf instincts processed as prey, but it felt like everything was standing still.

<Tobias, you’re the best at sounding like an Andalite. Talk to him, see what he’s got to say. Everyone else, listen in and wait. Me and Ax will get there as soon as we can and we can decide what to do from there.>

<Got it,> Tobias said. He settled into a tree some distance away, out of the Andalite’s eyesight but keeping the Andalite within his.

<Hello. I am a member of the Andalite bandits fighting the Yeerk forces on earth. Excuse me not showing myself just yet, war has made us all suspicious. You are?>

Before I tell you what he said back, let me explain something about thought speech. Thought speech is how Andalites communicate, since they have no mouths, and works as a sort of medium range telepathy. And because it goes directly into the receiver’s brain, translation usually isn’t required. It helps to know the language and specific words to send, but it isn’t a necessity like it is for human communication.

 So while I could _technically_ use the actual literal meanings the Andalite was saying in place of the words, that wouldn’t be accurate. For instance, he did not say  <FORCIBLY MATE WITH YOU, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I’VE BEEN THROUGH TODAY YOU POMPUS, PARANOID REAR END?> even though I could _technically_ say he did due to the way thought speech works. This Andalite knew exactly what he was saying with a very specific intent, so really, the only thing I could say is what I heard, which was this:

<FUCK YOU, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I’VE BEEN THROUGH TODAY YOU POMPUS PARANOID ASS?> Whatever I was expecting it sure as hell wasn’t that. It was like every word was pounding itself into my mind, a constant dull shout. Tobias almost fell out of his tree and Rachel was so shocked she started to laugh. Funny, I didn’t know wolves could laugh.

<I HAVE WATCHED MY SHIP GET DESTROYED BY A YEERK SURPRISE ATTACK, BEEN FORCED INTO CLOSE QUARTERS WITH SOME OF THE MOST FUCKING INSANE BASTARDS THIS SIDE OF THE GALAXY, MADE THE STUPIDEST FUCKING DECISION EVER CONCIEVED BY SENTIENT LIFE, EMERGED FROM THE WORST Z-SPACE TRIP EXPIRIENCED BY ANDALITE KIND IN THE DEEPEST SHITSTAINED ASSHOLE OF YEERK TERRITORY, BEEN CAPTURED AND PARADED AROUND LIKE THE BIGGEST PIECE OF MEAT IN THE MORON MARKET AND BEEN DIRECTLY INTRODUCED TO THE MOST DISGUSTING SIN AGAINST NATURE THE UNIVERSE HAS EVER SEEN.>

There was a half second pause and before Tobias could get a word in he started up again.

<THEN I PRACTICALLY RIPPED THE SKIN OFF OF MY HANDS GETTING OUT OF THE CUFFS, SHAVED A FEW MONTHS OF SLOW ASS GROWTH OFF MY TAILBLADE AND THEN ESCAPED TO THE SURFACE OF AN ALIEN WORLD, WHERE I WAS CHASED BY FUCKING HORK BAJIR BATTALION UNTIL MY HOOVES WERE ABOUT TO GIVE UP AND DROP OFF MY LEGS LIKE ROTTEN MOLDY FRUIT. SO IF YOU THINK I’VE GOT ANY PATIENCE TO DEAL WITH VAGUE CAGEY ‘WE CAN’T TRUST ANYONE’ BULLSHIT I WILL HACK AWAY MY THROAT RIGHT AT THIS VERY MOMENT AND FIND A WAY TO BLEED OUT ON YOUR FAVORITE PATCH OF GRASS.>

There was a pause. Then I said <Oh my god he’s amazing. Can we keep him?>    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the Second chapter, and your Karkat. Hope you enjoy him, he's gonna be around for a while. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

Needless to say we were all pretty speechless. The only Andalite’s we’d come into contact with were Ax and Elfangor, who couldn’t have been any less like this guy if they’d tried. No one really knew how to respond, so I guess he took that as a cue to keep going.

<I SEE YOU’VE REALIZED THE FULL EXTENT OF YOUR STUPIDITY. NO NEED TO PROSTRATE YOURSELVES BEFORE ME, TAILS BENT BACK IN PREPARATION FOR THE VIGOROUS FUCKING THAT YOU DESERVE WHILE YOU LOWER YOUR EYESTALKS IN SHAME. I AM A PROUD WARRIOR WHO IS ABOVE ALL OF THAT, AND I AM WILLING TO EXTEND MERCY TO THOSE PITIABLE SOULS IN NEED OF A FIRM GUIDING HAND TO THE RIGHT PATH. HERE’S A HINT, START BY NOT BEING SUCH FUCKING TOOLS AND SHOWING YOURSELVES ALREADY.>

<Uh…> Tobias said, from the looks of it only to us. <Jake, you getting any of this?>

<Any of what?>

<Trust me, you’d know,> I reply. <He must be talking short range. Just get Ax here as fast as possible okay?>

<Okay…>

<Tobias, I’d recommend showing yourself. Keep up the Andalite act as long as you can before Ax gets here>

<Okay, but it isn’t going to be easy.> Tobias flapped his wings and settled onto a low hanging branch in clear view of the shouty little guy.

<I am the bird that just landed in front of you. I am in morph.>

<NO FUCKING SHIT? THANK YOU FOR INFORMING ME OF YOUR LOCATION, OBVIOUSLY I AM TOO MENTALLY DISABLED TO EVER FIGURE OUT THAT THE STRANGE TWO-WINGED ALIEN BIRD THAT JUST LANDED IN FRONT OF ME OUT OF THE BLUE IS SOMEONE IN MORPH. WITHOUT YOUR HELP I MIGHT HAVE SHOVED MY TAIL UP MY OWN ASS IN CONFUSION, OR SOMETHING EQUALLY RETARDED.>

<… Please don’t.>

<NO NEED TO WORRY, YOUR EFFORTS WERE NOT IN VAIN.YOU GODDMAN MORON. NOW STOP BEING WEIRD AND DEMORPH ALREADY, I’VE GOT SHIT TO TAKE CARE OF AND I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS.>

<I cannot demorph. >

<WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN’T DEMORPH, YOU DON’T TRUST YOUR FELLOW ANDALITE? OR ARE YOU EMBARRASSED BY HOW YOU LOOK WHEN YOUR ORGANS ARE SHIFTING AROUND LIKE SO MUCH SHIT FROM A MALFUNCTIONING CONTAINER THAT YOU REFUSE TO LET A LOWLY, INEXPERIENCED ARISTH SEE YOU MID CHANGE? WELL FUCK YOU, YOU PRUDISH THROBBING DICK I REFUSE TO AVERT MY GAZE FOR EVEN A SECOND.>

<No, I mean I cannot demorph at all. I am a nothlit.>

<… OH.> And for a second his tail lowered and he honestly looked sheepish. His main eyes looked off to the side and the stalks were looking basically anywhere but at the bird in front of him.

<THAT’S AWFUL. I’M SORRY.> Wasn’t this guy just full of surprises. A vocab that would make sailors blush, but not a completely bad person. He honestly seemed sorry for Tobias, not just embarrassed he’d said the wrong thing.

<Apology accepted.>

There was an awkward pause for the ages. Tobias preened a little bit while the andalite kid stamped his hooves some.

<MY NAME IS ARISTH KARKATVAN-TASILLAL-TERNIA.> The kid… Karkat stood like he was trying to look bigger than he actually was. His tail with its tiny blade was raised high.

<I wish I could extend the same courtesy.>

<WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT->

Jake and Ax came into the clearing then. Our Fearless Leader strode in like he owned the place, wolf morph sending off this air of casual intimidation. It was a pretty good first impression, if I say so myself.  

Too bad Karkat’s gaze was focused somewhere else entirely.

<YOU!>

<Karkatvan?!> Ax looked shocked, all of his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. <What are you doing here?>

<WHAT AM I DOING HERE?! WHAT ARE  _YOU_ DOING HERE? EVERYONE THINKS YOU’RE DEAD!>

<I contacted my family and commanders some time ago->

<THEY TOLD US YOUR SHIP GOT BLOWN UP AND ELFANGOR WAS KILLED IN COMBAT! THE INSTRUCTORS SAID SHIT ABOUT YOU AND NO ONE ASKED BECAUSE WE KNEW WE WOULD NEVER GET ANYTHING RESEMBLING A STRAIGHT ANSWER OUT OF THE CLOSED MINDED FUCKS THEY CALL TEACHERS.>

Ax didn’t look too pleased to hear that, but we all had more important things to worry about. The rest of the animorphs were still hanging back in the bushes, but Karkat knew about three of us now, and we still didn’t have any proof it was actually him in there.

<Ax, does he act like you remember?> I asked, slowly circling the perimeter of the clearing.

<Exactly so. Karkatvan-tasillal-ternia is not someone you forget very easily.>

<No kidding,> Rachel added.

<We still need to get him somewhere we can hold him. Take him to the shack?> I looked over to Jake who very pointedly didn’t look at me.

<It’s worked before.> I thought back to the last time we’d starved out a Yeerk. It had not been fun.

<Ax, keep talking to him. Don’t reveal any more about us than what you have to, keep him satisfied and moving.>

<Yes, Prince Jake.> Ax said privately. Out loud, he said <This area isn’t safe. Let us move someplace we can settle in and exchange information.>

<APPROXIMATELY HOW LONG WILL THAT TAKE? I KIND OF HAVE A TIME SENSETIVE ISSUE TO DEAL WITH AND I’M PRETTY FUCKING SURE YOU’D ALL BE INTERESTED IN HEARING ABOUT IT. >

<Not long. Just come with us.> Ax turned and started walking away, but Karkat looked at Tobias. They shared a look and possibly some thought speech, I couldn’t tell you. You’d have to ask one of them.

Anyway Tobias took off in the same direction Ax had and Karkat started following. Jake hung back and waited for Karkat to get behind Ax and then settled in after him. Karkat’s stalk eyes stared at him for a while but he didn’t say anything.  Jake didn’t take his gaze off the andalite rear end in front of him, but he said to the rest of us <Rachel, Cassie, stick near us but out of sight. Marco, you go ahead and make sure the shack is clear>

<Got it,> I said. I split away and started running ahead of the group, thanking whatever weird not-god thing watching that the shack was only a ten minute walk away. Part of me wanted to point out it was suspiciously convenient, but the rest of me liked being some semblance of sane and didn’t think about it too much.

The shack was old. Really old. It had been old 5 years ago and was now verging on ancient kind of old. The wood was dark and always seemed wet, even though it hadn’t rained in like a week. Nature was slowly taking it over, one inch at a time. Grass was growing right up to the door, and the whole thing smelled like rot. It had one room, one window with no glass in it and a door that still worked, small miracle. A quick sniff told me no one had been here since the last time us Animorphs had used it. Even the chairs and rope were undisturbed.

Ducking inside I demorphed and took a second to catch my breath again. All of this changing back and forth was really wearing me out; I’m not exactly in shape. I huffed and puffed for a while in the musty, dusty and just barely visible inside of the shack, sweat dripped down my back even though it was actually kind of chilly out. My breath fogged in front of me.

My hearing is downright pathetic when compared to a wolfs, but I heard Ax and company coming long enough in advance that I could duck out and get into the bush cover.

I’d just like to mention for the record that running with no shoes on forest floors is not fun and the fact I did it is a major accomplishment and should be recognized.

Once I’d settled into the bush Rachel and Cassie came up behind me like they’d always been there, demorphed and clearly pretty relieved to be human again. Jake was cutting it close, I didn’t have the infallible andalite clock in my head but I knew Jake had been in morph for at least an hour and a half.

Thought speech doesn’t work like normal hearing at all, so I didn’t get to slowly understand more of what they were saying as the odd line of Andalite-andalite-wolf approached. It was more like a switch got flipped when they got in range and I tuned into the conversation midsentence.

<-AND ANOTHER THING, WHAT IS WITH THE RADIO SILENCE FROM THE WEIRD FURRY FOUR-LEGGED ALIEN MORPHED GUY? I MEAN I GET BEING STOIC BUT HE HASN’T SAID A WORD SINCE I FIRST SAW HIM. IS HE MUTE? ARE YOU GUYS REALLY THAT HARD UP FOR WARRIORS OUT HERE?>

Scratch that, less of a conversation, more of a monologue.

<I MEAN IT’S NOT LIKE EITHER OF YOU HAVE SAID MUCH OF ANYTHING SINCE WE STARTED WALKING, WHICH IS KIND OF BIZARRE, I THOUGHT YOU WOULD HAVE AN ENDLESS AMOUNT OF QUESTIONS FOR THE ANDALITE WHO JUST ESCAPED FROM YEERK FORCES AFTER WITNESSING A SURPRISE ATTACK ON A HOOF FUCKING DOME SHIP. NOT LIKE THAT SHIT IS IMPORTANT INFORMATION OR ANYTHING. NO, LETS JUST LET THAT SIT THERE LIKE A TURD ON A BOULDER, RIGHT WHERE EVERYONE CAN SEE IT AND DO FUCKALL.>

Ax was apparently ignoring him, and Jake looked like he was a combination of annoyed and trying desperately not to laugh. I knew that face pretty well, even on a wolf.

<We’re here.> The ‘Thank God’ wasn’t said, but was as heavily implied as an alien who claimed not to understand sarcasm could make it.

<WHAT, HERE? THIS IS YOUR PLACE? SERIOUSLY? I WAS EXPECTING SOME KIND OF ELABORATE BASE OF OPERATIONS THE WAY YOU WERE SO FUCKING EAGER TO GET HERE. WHY DID WE WALK HERE WHEN THE CLEARING WAS BASICALLY JUST AS SECURE AND ALSO DIDN’T INVOLVE WASTING THE VALUABLE TIME OF ALL INVOLVED?>

<Please get in the structure so we can talk.> Ax said. Andalites don’t have teeth to clench and the concept would probably not make any sense to them at all but I swear I could hear that in Ax’s words. Ax knew exactly how long Jake had been in morph and Jake wasn’t going to demorph until Karkat was at least semi-secure. Rachel clenched her fists in the ground next to me and Cassie was practically radiating concern.

<YOU KNOW WHAT? NO. I’VE BEEN PRETTY PATIENT WITH THE OBTUSE LEADING BY THE EYESTALKS CRAP YOU’VE BEEN PULLING ON ME SO FAR BUT I AM NOT GOING TO KEEP FOLLOWING ORDERS GIVEN BY AN ARISTH BARELY MORE EXPERIENCED THAN ME. EITHER SHOW ME WHO’S IN CHARGE HERE SO I CAN EXCRETE URGENT KNOWLEDGE DOWN THEIR EARS OR I WON’T MOVE ANOTHER FUCKING STEP.> Karkat settled into a stance that I think he thought looked sturdy and unmoving but actually made him look like Bambi on a frozen lake.

Ax turned around and glared at Karkat with all four of his eyes, tail raised high. It was about then I realized Ax hated Karkat, Karkat hated Ax, and the fact Ax’s leader was about to get trapped because he was being stubborn wasn’t helping anything.

<Get in the structure now you vec->

I don’t know exactly what Ax was about to call him but Karkat wasn’t having any of it. He let out some kind of telepathic scream and swung his tailblade at Ax with intent to do some serious damage. Ax countered quickly and there was a fight moving faster than my eye could perceive. Cassie gasped and started shifting like she was about to get up but me and Rachel held her back. Karkat could still get away at this point, we couldn’t risk revealing ourselves out of morph yet.

Andalite’s tailblades are wicked sharp, wicked fast tools of slicing and dicing, and seeing them fight was always kind of terrifying. Ax’s blade was easily three times the size of Karkat’s so it was like Karkat was using a dagger in a fencing match and it was clear to me that he wasn’t going to win this. Just as Karkat started to wear down he managed to catch Ax’s tail at an odd angle and hold it for a fraction of a second. That was all the time Jake needed.

<EVERYONE STOP!> Jake yelled, snarling at them in clear wolf speak for ‘I am in charge’. Karkat turned and looked at him in naked shock while Ax backed off, shame-faced.

<You, get in the shelter now. We have been fighting too long to trust someone just because they have a friendly face. Ax, do not attack him again without my say so. Is that clear?>

<Yes, Prince Jake.>

<JAKE? WHAT KIND OF NAME IS->

<Now!> Jake snarled and snapped at Karkat, who ran inside the shack. Ax moved to close and block the doorway.

<How long?>

<You have been in morph exactly 116 minutes. I would strongly suggest you demorph immediately.>

Jake didn’t have to be told twice. I turned and ran into the bush next to us and started demorphing the second he was hidden in the shade. It was a tense two minutes, but Jake got to human with no real problem just in time.

For a long second Jake just sat there breathing. Then he started laughing in relief. “Wow, that was  _way_ too close,” he said with an ‘I’m alive holy heck that’s awesome’ smile.

“It’s always way too close you jerk.” I punched him in the shoulder, because that’s how guys show affection. Cassie just hugged him while Rachel patted him on the back. Three kids in tight clothes in a bush in the forest with no shoes trying not to be too loud celebrating the fact their leader hadn’t gotten trapped. That was the life of an Animorph

<Just a heads up, Karkatvan is still in the shack and hasn’t shown any signs of forcing his way out.> Tobias called out into our brains. We couldn’t reply because humans can’t use thought speech, but Jake nodded very clearly for his benefit.

“That’s good. He’s being cooperative.” Rachel said, settling into a sitting position, arms around her knees.

“Or patient. Or terrified. There’s a bunch of reasons he could be going along with this,” I pointed out.

“He kept going on about something he needed to tell us as soon as possible,” Cassie said, looking thoughtful again. “We should hear him out. Any information is good information right?”

“I’ll do it,” I said, already concentrating on my Gorilla morph. “I’ve been working on my Ax impression anyway. Time to put it to tha tiewst.” My mouth started changing on that last bit.

Jake looked like he wanted to protest but couldn’t work up the energy to do it.

“Fine. Be careful, okay?”

<Since when am I not careful?>

Gorillas are big, strong, smart and overall pretty chill animals. Don’t cross it, it won’t cross you. I lumbered into the clearing and towards the front of the shack. Ax was standing guard and looking pretty ashamed of himself.

<Ax, you okay?>

<… I should have been more patient with him. I apologize for losing control like that.>

<It’s cool, Ax-man. We all lose it sometimes.>

I gave him an awkward back pat and entered the building. It was a tight squeeze, but I’d managed it before.

Karkat was pacing, which was pretty impressive because at best he had eight steps and then he had to turn completely around again. When I got through the door he was staring at me with his main eyes. His stalk eyes were looking all over was a sort of nervous energy.

<WHAT IS WITH YOU PEOPLE AND BEING IN MORPH!? THAT ANIMAL DOESN’T EVEN LOOK VERY DANGEROUS. IS IT SOME KIND OF INCOMPREHENSIBLE FETISH YOU DEVELOP TO MAKE UP FOR YOUR COMPLETE FUCKING FAILURE AS ANDALITE FORCES?>  

<No, but good guess. You talked of important information?>

<OH  _NOW_ YOU’RE INTERESTED IN WHAT I HAVE TO SAY! LOOK AT THAT, THE ELEMIST MUST EXIST AFTER ALL, BECAUSE ONLY INTERVENTION FROM AN ALL-POWERFUL BEING COULD EXPLAIN ONE OF YOU SHIT-SUCKING LUNATICS ACTUALLY MAKING SENSE. IF THIS DIDN’T DIRECTLY AFFECT THE LIVES OF PEOPLE I SORT OF CARE ABOUT I WOULDN’T SAY A FUCKING WORD TO ANY OF YOU, JUST FOR THE RECORD.>

<Noted and recorded. What is the information?> It leaned on my knuckles and looked right at him while he spoke.

<THE INFORMATION THAT I HAVE RISKED LIFE AND LIMB TO DELIVER AND THAT I PERSONALLY HAVE A DIRECT FUCKING STAKE IN IS THAT THE YEERK FORCES ON EARTH HAVE ELEVEN OF MY FELLOW ARISTHS CAPTURED AND THEY ARE BEING HELD AT A POOL NOT FAR FROM THIS LOCATION. I ESCAPED AND SWORE TO THEM THAT I WOULD GET HELP BEFORE THEY WERE INFESTED, A PROMISE YOU AND YOUR BAND OF FOAL FUCKING DUNDERHEADS ARE DIRECTLY INTERFERING WITH! IF WE DON’T GET THEM OUT OF THERE BEFORE THE DAY ENDS ON THIS MISERABLE ROCK THEY’RE EITHER GOING TO SLIT THEIR OWN THROATS OR GET INFESTED BEFORE THEY GET THE CHANCE TO!>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: And with that chapter I firmly establish where in Animorphs canon this takes place. The official location of The Break Out in the timeline is some time after number 12:The Reaction and before number 13 The Change. I had several reasons for this. First of all, I’m not touching late series characterization with a ten foot pole, it scares and intimidates me.
> 
> Second, the Hork Bajir colony would have been an unwieldy element and I don’t think I could have handled it.
> 
> Third, while Karkat and co have enough depth to them to carry the heavier end of the series, I don’t think that is what anyone is here for.
> 
> Fourth: I considered setting this after the David Trilogy for the sake of the morphing cube and having Karkat morphing for the first time, but that wouldn’t make much sense in universe because arisths have at least one morph before going into space and there is no way in hell the Animorphs would give someone the ability so soon after the David fiasco. 
> 
> While that does mean Tobias kind of gets the shaft, I think I can make it work in context. Hope that makes sense, and sorry for the post chapter text dump.


	4. Chapter 4

 

“Tobias?”

<He’s still pacing Jake.>

“Okay. Just keep a close eye on him.”

<That’s what I’m here for.> I glanced up at the red tail hawk sitting in the tree above us. Hawks don’t have mouths, or eyebrows, or anything like a face to make expressions with.  Generally they look the same, a blank sort of scowl. But if I had to guess I’d say the scowl looked a lot less blank right then.

“So… do we believe him?” Rachel asked, straight to the point.

“That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?”  I said while I leaned back into the tree. “The ‘Do we risk going back down there’ question.”

“It can’t hurt to sneak in and look around,” Rachel said. She was standing straight and tall, somehow making an old leotard and nothing else look gorgeous on little sleep in the middle of the woods. Don’t ask me how, but she pulled it off.

“The last time we infiltrated the Yeerk pool we almost got eaten by Taxxons,” Jake said firmly. “He said we have a day. Why would we have a day? They would be infested by now, makes me think it’s some kind of trap.”

“Do you really think Visser 3 or Chapman have that kind of planning skills? And why risk it? That’s a young, healthy Andalite in there. Any Yeerk alive would kill to get their hands on it. Even as a Controller it doesn’t make sense to drop him into our turf with no back up.”

<Excuse me,> Ax said, raising his hand. <I believe you ordered me to tell you everything I thought could be relevant?>

“Yes Ax, everything. Why? Do you have something to say?” Jake shifted to get a better look at our strange blue sixth ranger.

<I do. But it is… difficult to talk about.> Ax was conspicuously looking everywhere but at us, which was pretty impressive with four eyes.

“Just take it slow. We can be patient.” Cassie smiled a warm sweet sympathetic smile. I quietly wondered if she did it on purpose.

<Karkatvan-Tasillal-Ternia is not… the best specimen. He is what I believe humans would call a runt? He still retains his foal stripes and- his blade. You all saw.> Ax looked fidgety and I swear if Andalites could blush he would have. <If what he said about eleven _aristh_ prisoners was true they might have been willing to risk the less desirable host as bait for more. >

“So do you think he’s a Controller?” Rachel said, straight to the point as always.

<It is a possibility. Though we always said he was the least likely to get infested… we compared his mind to a smelly heap full of sharp things.>

“Kinda harsh Ax-man,” I said “But I see what you mean.”

“So we’ve got arguments both ways. He could be a Controller, but he says there are eleven more uninfested Andalites down there.” Rachel was scowling like she could maybe intimidate the problem into not being a problem anymore. “So if he’s telling the truth we can’t just wait three days.”

“I am _not_ going back down into the freaking Hellmouth on that guy’s word.” I crossed my arms like a stubborn kid. I didn’t care how it looked, I wasn’t doing it.

“Maybe we won’t have to.” Jake looked like inspiration had just slapped him in the face and called him a moron. “We could get Eric!”

I slapped my forehead and thought ‘ _Why the hell didn’t I think of that?’_ Eric King was a kid from our school, kind of. He was actually an ancient alien android called a Chee who’d escaped to Earth after their creators had been slaughtered. They had hologram projectors that made them look human and could basically sneak into places an Animorph could only dream of.

“If anything was going on, he’d know or could find out fast,” Cassie said with a relieved smile. She got to her feet and dusted off the leaves and stuff that had gotten stuck there.

“Okay, so who’s gonna go get him?” Rachel was looking at Jake, and Jake did not look comfortable.

“Okay, show of hands, who wants to stay with…” Jake paused, struggling with the mile long train wrecks that are all Andalite names.

“Karkat,” I said. The rest of the Animorphs all looked at me and I shrugged. “Fits, doesn’t it?”

“With Karkat?” Dead silence. Nobody was making eye contact with anyone else, and I got the urge to start whistling something. Clearly this was a position no one wanted.

“I’ll stay with him.” I raised my hand and smiled in that way I knew made teachers mad.

“You will?” Rachel said, like she was being handed a present by a complete stranger.  Nice to know she expected so much from me.

“The guy’s a gold mine. Did you hear those insults? Part of me wants to take notes, they deserve to be recorded for the ages.” Rachel tossed some grass my way and had the classic look of a person trying not to smile.

<I’ll stick around too. He seemed to like me okay.> Tobias ruffled his feathers. I tactfully failed to mention that he’d be kind of redundant on an urban search mission, even with his extra practice.

“Okay, so me, Cassie, and Rachel will go get him and explain what happened. The rest of you keep an eye on him until we get back.” Jake and Rachel started brushing themselves off and getting ready to morph once again, but Cassie wasn’t.

Instead, she said “Is that all?”

Jake turned to her and looked confused. “Well yeah, I guess. Why?”

Cassie bit her lip. Then she took a breath and said, “I think they should interrogate him.”  

“… Like, shine the spotlight on him and give him the ‘Good-Cop-Bad-Cop’ routine?”

“No, not like that. More like getting everything out of him we can. Right now he just thinks we don’t trust him. An Andalite-Controller besides Visser 3 is considered impossible, right Ax?” Cassie looked over from her spot in a kind of tree roots nook.

<Yes. The idea of another Andalite-Controller would not occur to him.>

Cassie looked directly at Ax, and her eyes were hard and sad.

“So you get the whole story, act sorry for what you did, and watch. See if something slips. That way we get all the info we need without making Karkat panicky or tipping off the possible Yeerk.”

Cassie had turned to stare in the direction of the shack. She did not look happy about what she was saying. Frankly, I got it. Cassie was worried, trying to do the right thing all the time but that meant lying to a lot of people. She hated lying and the fact that she had suggested it in the first place probably wasn’t sitting right.

She’d been getting like that more and more recently.

“Sounds like a plan.  Any objections?” Rachel said with all the patience of a toddler at the candy store. “No? Good, now let’s do it!” She was already morphing, shrinking into her bald eagle form once again.

“You sure you wanna break out the catch phrase already? For this? I mean, none of us are doing anything really deadly or insane yet.”

<Shut up, Marco.>

A little later, three birds flew off towards town, leaving me, Ax, and Tobias with the shouty one. I morphed gorilla again and we made our way into the shack. Tobias went first, settling into the rafters and startling the hell out of Karkat.

<AH! WARN A GUY NEXT TIME! I COULD HAVE DIED OF SURPRISE AND THEN WHERE WOULD YOU BE?>

<Sorry. Won’t happen again,> Tobias said, giving him a raptor stare.

<I FORGIVE YOU, BECAUSE I AM A GRACIOUS AND HUMBLE PRINCE-TO-BE AND I TREAT MY SUBORDINATES WITH THE RESPECT THEY DESERVE.> 

I squeezed into the door again with Ax right behind me. Ax stood in front of Karkat like he was making every one of his inches over him count. I shuffled into the corner by the door and settled into a relaxed position.

<OH, IT’S YOU UTTER FAILURES AT SENTIENCE AGAIN. AND STILL IN FUCKING MORPH, STOP ME BEFORE I PASS OUT WITH SHOCK. >

Ax was stiff, but his face remained blank. Blanker than usual, at least. Tobias shifted around on the rafters and Karkat kept a stalk eye focused very firmly on him. I’m no expert on Andalite body language, but devoting a fourth of his sight to Tobias seemed like something important. Couldn’t really explain why, but I filed it away for later.

<SO, WHAT ARE YOU HERE FOR? YOU OBVIOUSLY DON’T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT MY FRIENDS, BECAUSE IF YOU DID WE WOULDN’T BE STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING WOODS ON THE BACK-ASS OF NOWHERE TALKING ABOUT IT. SO INSTEAD WE ARE GOING TO IGNORE THE FACT ELEVEN MORPH-CAPABLE ANDALITES ARE IN YEERK HANDS AND SCHEDULED TO BE INFESTED IN LESS THAN 12 EARTH HOURS? YOU UTTERLY RETARDED SACKS OF WASTE CAN STAND THERE BEING SUSPICIOUS AND CAREFUL BECAUSE YOU ARE FUCKING COWARDS WHILE MY COMRADES GET INFESTED. > 

Karkat had panic and anger written all over him in neon lights so I didn’t begrudge him. Ax seemed to be thinking the same thing.

<We have others looking into it. Out forces are small enough that we cannot afford undo risk,> he said, moving a step closer.  <I believe you. We are just gathering more information before we act.>

Karkat didn’t look happy, but honestly, he didn’t seem like he’d ever been happy before in his life.

<MORE INFORMATION.>

 <Yeah, more information,> I interjected. <From the beginning- how the attack happened, how you escaped, you got here. All of it.>

Karkat crossed his arms. <SO NOW YOU WANT TO HEAR EVERYTHING. WHAT IF I DON’T FEEL LIKE TELLING YOU? WHAT IF I WANT TO TALK TO SOMEONE BESIDES THE IMBECILIC _ARISTH_ HERE? >

<Then your friends are lost.>

Karkat flinched. Tobias and I looked at Ax but he kept his eyes on Karkat.

<FINE. PREPARE TO HAVE LIGHT SHINED INTO THAT DANK MOLDY SPACE BETWEEN YOUR EARS. TRY NOT TO EVACUATE YOUR BOWELS IN SURPRISE.

<ME AND MY FELLOW _ARISTHS_ WERE STATIONED ON THE DOME SHIP KAFTKA, OTHERWISE KNOW AS SHIP ‘ _YOU PASSED ACADEMY JUST BARELY AND WE’VE GOTTA STICK YOU SOMEWHERE SO HERE, OLD-ASS SHIP IN THE MOST BORING SECTION OF ANDALITE SPACE._ ’ AND IT LIVED UP TO ITS REPUTATION PRETTY DAMN WELL. I DIDN’T EVEN SEE A SKRIT NAA VESSEL FOR THE ENTIRE TIME WE WERE THERE. BUT THEN WE GOT ATTACKED.>

Karkat paused.

<… And?> Tobias asked.

<I’M PAUSING FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT, GIVE ME A FUCKING SECOND.>

<Sorry.>

<YES, ATTACKED.> Karkat moved on like Tobias hadn’t said anything. <IT HAPPENED WHEN THE SHIP WAS ON ITS PATROL ROUTE, NEAR A CALM EDGE OF THE TERRITORY. SUDDENLY OUT OF NOWHERE DRACON BEAMS LANDED THE MOST IMPOSSIBLY LUCKY SHOT I’VE EVER HAD THE UNIMAGINABLE MISFORTUNE OF SEEING AND CRIPPLED OUR SHIELDS AND ENGINES BASICALLY IN ONE GO.  IT WAS A FUCKING BLADE SHIP, AND I SWEAR THIS IS TRUE, IT LOOKED MORE SURPRISED THAN WE WERE. LIKE IT’D BEEN MINDING ITS OWN DAMNED BUSINESS AND FOUND A SHIP OF ANDALITES GIFT-WRAPPED FOR THEM.

<WE’D BEEN GRAZING IN THE DOME WHEN THE SHOTS HIT, AND SUDDENLY EVERY ALARM IN THE ENTIRETY OF SPACE WENT OFF AT ONCE AND EVERYONE WAS SCRAMBLING. THE POOR BASTARD IN CHARGE OF US SAID HEAD TO THE ESCAPE PODS IN CASE THE WORST HAPPENED AND RAN OFF, SO OF COURSE THE WORST DID HAPPEN AND OUR WEAPONS GOT BLOWN UP. WE GOT THE COMMAND TO EVACUATE AND A POD MEANT FOR 6 SUDDENLY HAD 12 ANDALITES IN IT. VRISKA-SERKE-SCORPIN WAS YELLING TO TURN AROUND AND BLAST THE BLADE SHIP (OBVIOUSLY) AND TEREZI-PYROP-LIBRAE  WANTED TO STAY TO SEE HOW IT ENDED AND WOULDN’T STOP CACKLING LIKE A MAD PERSON.>

Ax looked about as surprised as I’d ever seen him. He didn’t interrupt though, and Karkat didn’t seem to notice. 

 <ERIDAN-AMPOR-AQUARII KEPT TRYING TO TAKE CHARGE WHILE FEFERI-PEIXA-PISCUM TOLD HIM TO CALM THE FUCK DOWN, NEPETA-LEIJ-LEONIS AND EQUIUS-ZAHA-SAGITAR WERE SO CLOSE THEY WERE PRACTICALLY TOUCHING FACES. GAMZEE-MAKAR-CAPRIC WAS STARING INTO SPACE LIKE THE BRAIN DEAD MORON HE IS, ARADIA-MEGID-ARIETIS WAS WAY TOO FUCKING HAPPY WATCHING THE SHIPS FIGHT IT OUT, TAVROS-NITRA-TAUROM HAD ALL HIS EYES CLOSED, KANAYA-MARAM-VIRGI WAS FRETTING OVER EVERYONE AND UTTERLY FAILING TO KEEP THE PEACE.  SOLLUXCAP-TORBIF-OCAL WAS AT THE CONTROLS AND YELLING AS LOD AS HE COULD FOR DIRECTIONS.>

Unless my ability to count had failed me that was eleven Andalites. Karkat was still looking at everyone, but it was kind of unfocused. Like he had his eyes on us but was looking at something else really far away. 

<EVERYONE WAS ACTING LIKE PANICKED KAFTKAS SO I TOOK CHARGE. I TOLD SOLLUX TO GET US THE HELL OUT OF THERE NO MATTER WHAT, AND THEN HE DID. EXCEPT OUR Z-SPACE NAVIGATOR WAS BROKEN, THE POD HAD BEEN UNDER REPAIRS WHEN WE’D BEEN ATTACKED. THE SHIP WAS FLYING BLIND. HE TOOK THE RISK UNDER MY ORDERS AND THEN OUR DINKY LITTLE ESCAPE POD WITH THE UNIVERSE'S MOST PATHETIC SHREDDERS POPPED OUT IN ORBIT OVER YOUR PLANET, IN THE DEEPEST SHIT-COVERED HOLE OF YEERK SPACE. AND IT WAS COMPLETELY AND ENTIRELY MY FAULT.>

He paused again. Tobias didn’t ask why.

<SO WE GOT CAPTURED, NO FUCKING DUH, AND ESCORTED INTO THE YEERK POOL NEARBY. FIRST WE GOT POKED AND PRODDED BY BASICALLY EVERYONE, EXAMINED AT FUCKING DRACON POINT. THEN LOTS OF POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE, THEY ROLLED OUT THE FUCKING WELCOME, CHEERING AND JEERING ON ALL SIDES. WE WERE IN CHAINS, LINED UP IN A NICE LITTLE ROW AND CONNECTED TOGETHER. I WAS THE LAST IN LINE, LIKE THE LEAST IMPORTANT PIECE OF FRUIT ON THE VINE. VISSER THREE GAVE A FUCKING SPEECH. HE WAS THE SLIMIEST PIECE OF INFECTED SHIT I’D EVER SEEN. EVERYONE’S EYES WERE ON HIM, EVEN THE HEAD CASES THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO BE GUARDING ME. I MANAGED TO PULL MY TAIL OUT OF THE CUFF AND GET FREE, AND THEN I RAN LIKE MY BACKSIDE WAS ON FIRE. BY THE TIME EVERYONE HAD GOTTEN THEIR SHIT TOGETHER I WAS HALF WAY UP THE DROPSHAFT.>

<And here we are,> I said.

<AND HERE WE ARE.>

There was a moment of silence. A very long moment. Ax hadn’t said anything yet and Tobias was preening his ruffled feathers.  Finally Ax said in private thought speech, <I believe that his story is true, but I cannot tell if he is a Controller.>

<We should wait until Jake and the others get back before we do anything,> I said out loud <Axmilli and I have to discuss this new intel. Be back in a moment.>

Ax and I left but didn’t go far, just out of sight of the window. Karkat couldn’t see us and assumed we were gone, so he started talking to Tobias.

<… FORGIVE ME FOR BEING A CURIOUS BASTARD, AND YOU HAVE FULL RIGHTS TO HANG ME UP BY MY EYES IF THIS IS OUT OF LINE BUT… HOW DID YOU GET TRAPPED?>

<Not very experienced are you?>

<FUCK YOU, I’M TALENTED ENOUGH TO MAKE UP FOR IT.> Okay, I admit it, I chuckled. Karkat was hilarious.

<I was left behind after a raid on a Yeerk pool. I had to hide in morph for beyond the time limit.> Tobias kept preening himself like it was just a casual conversation, but we didn’t talk about that first mission for a reason.

<WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF PRINCE LEAVES AN ANDALITE BEHIND IN A YEERK POOL? OF ALL THE COWARDLY, IDIOTIC, PATHETIC EXAMPLES OF LEADERSHIP I’VE ENCOUNTERED IN MY SHORT BUT INCREDIBLY REVEALING TIME AMONGST THE UPPER ECHELONS OF ANDALITE COMMAND THAT HAS TO BE THE MOST EGREGIOUS SAMPLE OF RANCID SHIT I’VE EVER SUCKED UP MY POOR VIRGIN HOOVES.>

And in true accordance with every law of comedy ever made, that was when Jake walked in.

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long, that first scene kicked the crap out of me.


End file.
